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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced data
from a Phase 2 study of VX-661 and ivacaftor that showed statistically
significant improvements in lung function among adults with cystic
fibrosis (CF) who have two copies (homozygous) of the most common
mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)
gene, known as F508del. The study evaluated four dose levels of VX-661
(10, 30, 100 and 150 mg) dosed once daily for 28 days in combination
with ivacaftor (150 mg) dosed twice daily. The study also evaluated a
separate group of patients who received VX-661 (10, 30, 100 and 150 mg)
dosed without ivacaftor for 28 days. Dose-dependent, mean relative
improvements in lung function (percent predicted forced expiratory
volume in one second; FEV1), both within group and versus
placebo, were observed across the combination dosing groups. Patients in
the 100 and 150 mg combination dose groups showed statistically
significant mean relative improvements in lung function, versus placebo,
of 9.0 percent (p=0.01) and 7.5 percent (p=0.02), respectively, at Day
28. In contrast, patients who received placebo showed a 0.03 percent
mean relative change in lung function at Day 28 (within-group). The mean
relative FEV1 across the combination dose groups returned
toward baseline during the post-treatment 28-day washout period. VX-661
was generally well-tolerated, both as monotherapy and in combination
with ivacaftor, and most adverse events were mild to moderate in
severity and similar between the treatment groups and those who received
placebo. Vertex plans to conduct additional studies of VX-661 to further
evaluate its potential for late-stage development, pending regulatory
discussions.

April 23, 2013

New research suggests that a readily-available antibiotic can bring
about improvements in behavior and anxiety for those with the most
common cause of inherited intellectual disability.

In a small study
published this week, researchers found “modest” but meaningful gains in
those with fragile X syndrome taking the drug minocycline as compared
to a placebo.

The finding is significant, researchers say, because the medication —
which is commonly used to treat severe acne — is currently available by
prescription.

For the study, 66 children with fragile X ages 3 to 16 were divided
into two groups, one receiving minocycline and the other group given a
placebo. After three months, the groups switched treatments. All the
while, both parents and doctors were not aware who was receiving the
real drug versus the placebo.

April 18, 2013

The idea that young adults, particularly women, actually have ADHD
routinely evokes skepticism. As a fairly driven adult female who had
found the strength to sit through biology lectures and avoid major
academic or social failures, I, too, was initially perplexed by my
diagnosis. My peers were also confused, and rather certain my
psychiatrist was misguided. “Of course you don’t have ADHD. You’re
smart,” a friend told me, definitively, before switching to the far more
compelling topic: medication. “So are you going to take Adderall and
become super skinny?” “Are you going to sell it?” “Are you going to
snort it?”

The answer to all of those questions was no. I would be taking Concerta, a relative of Ritalin. Dr. Ellen Littman, author of Understanding Girls with ADHD,
has studied high IQ adults and adolescents with the disorder for more
than 25 years. She attributes the under-diagnosis of girls and
women—estimated to be around 4 million who are not diagnosed, or half to
three-quarters of all women with ADHD—and the misunderstandings that
have ensued about the disorder as it manifests in females, to the early
clinical studies of ADHD in the 1970s. “These studies were based on
really hyperactive young white boys who were taken to clinics,” Littman
says. “The diagnostic criteria were developed based on those studies. As
a result, those criteria over-represent the symptoms you see in young
boys, making it difficult for girls to be diagnosed unless they behave
like hyperactive boys.”

ADHD does not look the same in boys and girls. Women with the disorder
tend to be less hyperactive and impulsive, more disorganized, scattered,
forgetful, and introverted. “They’ve alternately been anxious or
depressed for years,” Littman says. “It’s this sense of not being able
to hold everything together.”

March 14, 2013

Last month, Autism Speaks reported on a study that found reduced risk
of autism in Norwegian children whose mothers took folic acid
supplements around the time they became pregnant. (See our news story here and the full study here.)

Norway doesn’t require folic acid to be added to food, so prenatal
vitamins are the only source of extra folic acid for many pregnant
Norwegian women. By contrast, in the United States and Canada, flour and
cereal have been fortified with folic acid since 1998.

Therefore, it’s reasonable to wonder whether prenatal folic acid
supplements would have a similar effect here. It also raises the
question of why autism rates have continued to increase in North America
in the years since folic acid fortification of flour and cereals began.

March 12, 2013

In patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease,
an experimental drug that alters the brain's "fight or flight" impulse
succeeded in improving memory modestly when it was added to at least one
of the medications already in wide use to treat the memory-robbing
disease.

Compared with subjects taking the drug memantine and a placebo,
subjects supplementing their customary drug regimen for three months
with the experimental drug--ORM-12741--scored more highly on two
measures of memory. One of those tested the quality of patients' memory
overall; the other tested the quality of patients' "episodic
memory"--the ability to recall events and experiences from one's own
past.

In subjects taking the lower of the two doses tested, researchers at
Finnish drug developer Orion Pharmaceuticals found a slight improvement
in working memory--the ability to hold several items in memory for a
minute or two. But the benefits were too small to be reliably attributed
to the drug.

My doctor gave me a prescription for Zolpidem (brand name: Ambien) years ago to treat my chronic insomnia.
Amebin works for me really well, but if I dont't take the meds right
before I go to bed, I start experiencing some high feelings and start
doing weird things. For me, I tend to walk to the kitchen
and eat snacks, candies, ice cream, leftovers..I've put on a lot of
weight because I eat food at 11, 12 and even later on the weekend.
Sometimes I don't even remember about the food but when I get up in the
morning, I feel sick.

There are numerous scary Ambien-relatd report. Some people text, call, cook, and even go behind the vheel and start driving under ambien influene. The scariest thing is that people get arrested for driving under the influence of Ambien, and they don't really recall driving a car later on.
That measns you were driving a car while asleep. Ambien does weird things but these are the datas and some people don't have any side effects and for those people, Ambien becomes a life savior so I understand.

But if you are suffering from insomnia, your doctor may prescribe you ambien because she determined that the benefits of this medication far exeed the side effects commonly caused by this medication.

February 15, 2013

While many children and teens experience trauma, it's unclear what
are the best ways to help them move on from the events, a new review of
the research finds.

As a result, the researchers said, their work is a "call to action"
to better understand how to help children heal and prevent the lingering
effects of trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

"The body of evidence provides little insight into how interventions
to treat children exposed to trauma might influence healthy, long-term
development," they write.

February 05, 2013

Though increasingly common, Alzheimer's disease still isn't all that easy to diagnose, especially in its early stages.

Since last year there's been a new drug to help. The Food and Drug Administration approved a radioactive tracer called Amyvid for use in PET scans to identify clumps of proteins in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers have embraced the drug as a tool
to gauge these so-called amyloid plaques in the brain. They've already
found that amyloid shows up years before people start having problems
with memory or thinking.

But is the test appropriate for
widespread clinical use? A panel of advisers grappled with that question
Wednesday at a public meeting to consider whether Medicare should pay for the test.

January 15, 2013

Back to Health Family Chiropractic in
Fort Worth, TX announced that the practice has had significant success
using chiropractic care to help manage and significantly lessen the
symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). To better educate individuals about
the benefits of spinal adjustments, the practice is offering a free
video series on its website, http://backtohealthtexas.com.
The videos include testimonials from patients about how the ways spinal
adjustments have helped alleviate their symptoms including tingling,
muscle weakness, numbness and back pain.

"Chiropractic care is often an effective alternative to or partner with
medication in the treatment of MS," said Dr. Michlin. "Our online video
series is designed to educate patients and their families about how
spinal adjustments work and why they can make a difference for managing
MS."

December 19, 2012

“The culprit was grapefruit juice,” said Dr. Unni Pillai, a
nephrologist in St. Louis, Mo., who treated the woman several years ago
and later published a case report. “She loved grapefruit juice, and she had such a bad migraine, with nausea and vomiting, that she could not tolerate anything else.”

The previous week, she had been subsisting mainly on grapefruit
juice. Then she took verapamil, one of dozens of drugs whose potency is
dramatically increased if taken with grapefruit. In her case, the
interaction was life-threatening.

Last month, Dr. David Bailey, a Canadian researcher who first
described this interaction more than two decades ago, released an
updated list of medications affected by grapefruit. There are now 85
such drugs on the market, he noted, including common cholesterol-lowering
drugs, new anticancer agents, and some synthetic opiates and
psychiatric drugs, as well as certain immunosuppressant medications
taken by organ transplant patients, some AIDS medications, and some birth control pills and estrogen treatments. (The full list is online.)